Fastening structure and seal box with the fastening structure

ABSTRACT

The present invention discloses a fastening structure having a fastening flange extended outward from the periphery of a cover, and the fastening flange has a latch portion under the fastening flange for latching and fixing the cover; and a hinge portion for connecting the fastening flange at the periphery of the cover, and the hinge portion has a plurality of sections of crevices for reducing a hinge area that connects the fastening flange to the cover. The invention also discloses a sealed box that includes the fastening structure, and a container having a latch structure disposed at a top edge of the container and used together with the latch portion for latching and fixing the cover. Without changing the thickness of the hinge portion, the invention can save efforts for the operation of the sealed box while maintaining the stress of the hinge portion.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a plastic box, and more particularly toa fastening device of a box body and a plastic container with thefastening device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3 for a traditional structure of a sealed boxhaving a container for containing objects or storing food, the plasticsealed box 100 includes a sealed box 100 having a container 110 and acover 120. The container 110 includes a plurality of fixing protrusions111 disposed at the top of the container 110 and a plurality offastening flanges 130 disposed at the periphery of the cover 120, andthe fastening flanges 130 are connected to the periphery of the cover120 by a hinge portion 140 and turned through the hinge portion 140. Thefastening flange 130 includes a locking slot 131 corresponding to thefixing protrusion 111 for latching and fixing the protrusion 111, suchthat the fastening flange 130 can latch the cover 120 to the container110.

The cover surface 121 of the cover 120 forms a recession 122 disposed atthe periphery of the cover surface 121 and coupled to a top edge 113 ofthe container 110, wherein the pad 150 can be inserted into therecession 122.

If the cover 120 is put onto the container 110 and a force applyingportion 132 is pressed onto the fastening flange 130 by a user's fingersand the fastening flange 130 is pressed towards the fixing protrusion111 of the container 110, the fixing protrusion 111 will be passedthrough and latched into the locking slot 131. Since the top edge 113presses the pad 150 at the recession 122, the interior of the container110 will be isolated from the outside to form a sealed condition.

As shown in the figures, the sealed box 100 is a rectangular box with alength greater than 10 cm, and each side has two locking slots 131 ofthe fastening flange 130 and two fixing protrusions 111 of the container110 to assure a sufficient latching pressure and a consistent sealingpressure. However, the hinge portion 140 has a thickness smaller thanthat of the fastening flange 130 for connecting the fastening flange 130with the cover 120. Since the hinge portion 140 has to cope with thebending of the fastening flange 130 with respect to the cover 120,therefore the thickness cannot be too thin for its manufacture, or elsethe bending stress of the hinge portion 140 will become too weak due torepeated operations.

Particularly, a rear hinge portion 141 of the hinge portion 140 will betorn or cracked easily by the repeated operation of folding and openingthe fastening flange 130. Once if the rear hinge portion 141 is torn orcracked even a little, the torn or cracked portion will be spread andexpanded, and the life expectancy of the sealed box 100 will beshortened. If the length is greater than 10 cm and the thickness of thehinge portion 140 is too thick, then it will take lots of efforts tofold and open the fastening flange 130, and users cannot operate thefastening flange 130 by one hand easily.

Further, the design of the fixing protrusion 111 no longer can keep theintegrity of the periphery of the top of the container 110. If thecontainer 110 is one with a circular opening, the locking slot 131 ofthe fastening flange 130 of the cover 120 must be aligned precisely withthe fixing protrusion 111 of the container 110, so that the locking slot131 can latch and fix the fixing protrusion 111, and the fasteningflange 130 can latch the cover 120 with the container 110.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to overcome theforegoing shortcomings and avoid the existing deficiencies by providinga fastening structure that can maintain the stress of a hinge portionfor saving efforts for the operations of folding and opening thefastening flange than the prior art without changing the thickness ofthe hinge portion between a cover and a fastening flange.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a sealed boxhaving a container without the fixing protrusions to maintain theintegrity of the periphery at the top of the container, such that if thesealed box is one with a circular opening, then the fastening flange nolonger need any locking slot to be aligned precisely at the fixingprotrusion, and the fastening flange can latch with the cover tofacilitate the operations of the container.

The fastening structure of the invention is a fastening structuredisposed at the periphery of a cover, comprising: at least one fasteningflange extended outward from the periphery of the cover, a latch portiondisposed under the fastening flange for latching and fixing the cover;and a hinge portion for connecting the fastening flange at the peripheryof the cover, wherein the hinge portion has a plurality of sections ofcrevices for reducing a hinge area where the fastening flange isconnected to the cover.

The thickness of the hinge portion is smaller than that of the fasteningflange, so that the fastening flange can be folded and stacked onto thecover by the hinge portion.

A sealed box of a preferred embodiment of the invention comprises: acover, a plurality of fastening flanges disposed at the periphery of thecover, and each fastening flange having at least one latch portiondisposed under the fastening flange; and a hinge portion for connectingthe fastening flange to the periphery of the cover. The thickness of thehinge portion is smaller than that of the fastening flange, such thatthe fastening flange can be folded and stacked onto the cover by thehinge portion. The hinge portion has a plurality of sections of crevicesfor reducing a hinge area that connects the fastening flange with thecover and a container having a latch structure disposed proximate to thetop edge, and the latch structure works together with the latch portionsfor latching and fixing the cover.

The latch structure includes a sunken latch portion for pressing andhooking the latch portion, such that the fastening flange can latch thecover to the container, and thus the latch structure can be installedalong the periphery of the top of the container for maintaining theintegrity of the opening at the top of the container. If the containeris one having a circular opening, the fastening flange of the cover canbe pressed conveniently.

With a certain specific thickness of the hinge portion, the presentinvention provides sufficient thickness and bending stress for the hingeportion to deal with the operations of turning the hinge portion up anddown as well as opening the sealed box. The hinge portion comes with aplurality of crevices for reducing a hinge area that connects thefastening flange with the cover, and thus the hardness for turning thefastening flange up and down and opening the sealed container will notbe increased due to the issues of the thickness of the hinge portion andthe length of the fastening flange. As a result, users can fold andstack the fastening flange or open the sealed box as easy as shorteningthe fastening flange, and the invention also allows users to operate thelatch structure easily by one hand.

The invention further comprises a sheathe hole at the bottom of a coversurface of the cover and a plurality of air holes disposed around theexternal periphery of the sheathe hole; and an umbrella valve forextracting air and maintaining the interior of the sealed box in avacuum state, so as to extend the expiration date of objects stored inthe sealed box, enhance the sealing function by using an umbrella valve,and add a vacuum function.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a traditional plastic sealed box cover;

FIG. 2 is cross-sectional view of a cover depicted in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a traditional rectangular sealed box including a cover anda container;

FIG. 4A shows a plastic sealed box cover of a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 4B is a partial enlarged view of FIG. 4A;

FIG. 5 shows a container of a plastic sealed box a preferred embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of an assembly of a sealed box of apreferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 shows a cover of a plastic sealed box of another preferredembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of an assembly of a sealed box adopting thecover as depicted in FIG. 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will now be described in more detail hereinafterwith reference to the accompanying drawings as follows:

Referring to FIG. 4A to 6, a plastic sealed box 200 in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention. The sealed box 200 ismade of a plastic material and comprises a container 210 and a cover220. The container 210 has a latch structure 211 protruded from aposition proximate to the periphery of the top edge 213 of the container210 and a latch portion 212 under the latch structure 211. The peripheryof the cover 220 has a plurality of fastening flanges 230 (each is arectangular sealed box 200 with four sides), and each fastening flange230 is connected to the periphery of the cover 220 through a hingeportion 240 for bending and turning the fastening flange 230 withrespect to the periphery of the cover 220 through the hinge portion 240.The hinge portion 240 forms a plurality of sections of crevices 242,such as 0.2 mm crevices 242 disposed at a middle section of a rear hingeportion 241 for reducing a hinge area that connects the fastening flange230 with the periphery of the cover 220.

The fastening flange 230 has a plurality of latch portions 231corresponding to the latch portion 212 for latching the latch portion212 of the latch structure 211, such that the fastening flange 230latches the cover 220 to the container 210.

The cover 220 forms a recession 222 disposed at the periphery of thecover surface 221 and coupled to a top edge 213 of the container 210,and a pad 250 is inserted into the recession 222. When the cover 220 isput on the container 210, a force applying portion 232 of the fasteningflange 230 can be pressed by a user's fingers to press the fasteningflange 230 towards the latch portion 212 of the latch structure 211 ofthe container 210. The latch portion 231 of the fastening flange 230presses the lower edge of the latch structure 211 and latches with thelatch portion 212. Since the top edge 213 presses the pad 250 at therecession 222, the interior space of the container 210 is isolated fromthe outside to form a sealed condition.

If the sealed box 200 is a rectangular box and one of the sides isgreater than 10 cm, there will be at least two latch portions 231 of thefastening flange 230 on each side to assure a sufficient latchingpressure and a consistent sealing pressure.

Since the hinge portion 240 has to deal with the operations of turningthe fastening flange 230 up and down and opening the sealed box,therefore the length of the hinge portion 240 must have a specificthickness to provide a sufficient bending stress for the hinge portion240 to deal with the operations of turning the fastening flange 230 upand down and opening the sealed box, if the length of the fasteningflange 230 is greater than 10 cm. The hinge portion 240 forms aplurality of crevices 242 for reducing a hinge area that connects thefastening flange 230 with the periphery of the cover 220, so that thehardness of turning the fastening flange 230 up and down and opening thecontainer will not be increased due to the issues of the thickness ofthe hinge portion 240 and the length of the fastening flange 230, andusers can save efforts of folding and stacking the fastening flange 230and opening the sealed box similar to shortening the fastening flange230, and users can operate the latch structure of the sealed box by onehand. With the formation of the crevices 242, the thickness of the rearhinge portion 241 can be increased, so that the rear hinge portion 241will not be torn, cracked or damaged easily.

Further, the design of the latch structure 211 and its latch portion 212can maintain the integrity of the periphery at the top of the container210. If the container 210 is one with a circular opening, the fasteningflange 230 of the cover 220 can be pressed conveniently, and thus thelatch portions 231 can be latched to the latch portion 212 of the latchstructure 211, and the fastening flange 230 can latch the cover 220 tothe container 210.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8 for another preferred embodiment of thepresent invention, the cover 220 has an indent 223 under the coversurface 221, and the center of the indent 223 has a sheathe hole 224penetrating to the outside, and the external periphery of the sheathehole 224 of the indent 223 has a plurality of air holes 225.

An umbrella valve 260 includes a diaphragm 262, a press button 263disposed above the diaphragm 262, and a blocking latch portion 261disposed under the diaphragm 262. The umbrella valve 260 is insertedinto the sheathe hole 224 from the blocking latch portion 261, and thewidth of the diaphragm 262 can cover the air hole 225 of the indent 223.

When the container is assembled, the umbrella valve 260 can be forcedinto the sheathe hole 224 of the cover 220, the blocking latch portion261 of the umbrella valve 260 is latched to the bottom of the cover 220for its positioning, such that an air-extracting cylinder (not shown inthe figure) can be used for extracting air at the indent 223, or a usercan press the cover surface 221 by a hand to drive the diaphragm 262 todraw the extracted air upward, and the air in the sealed box 200 can bedischarged from the air holes 225 of the indent 223. When the interiorof the sealed box 200 is in a vacuum state, the air-extracting cylinderis removed or the pressing of the cover surface 221 is stopped. Thediaphragm 262 of the umbrella valve 260 is attached onto each air hole225 by pressure to maintain the vacuum state of the sealed box 200 andextend the expiration date of objects stored in the sealed box 200.

If a user wants to open the cover 220 and access the objects stored inthe sealed box 200, the user just needs to press the press button 263 ofthe umbrella valve 260, and the press button 263 is pressed to deformthe diaphragm 262 and separate each air hole 225 at the surface of theindent 223, so that air can enter into the sealed box 200 successfully,and the cover 220 can be opened more conveniently. With the applicationof the umbrella valve 260, the present invention can increase the usingsurface of the sealed box 200 and add a vacuum function in addition tothe sealing function of the sealed box 200.

While the invention has been described by means of specific embodiments,numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by thoseskilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of theinvention set forth in the claims.

1. A fastening structure, disposed at a periphery of a cover andcomprising: at least one fastening flange extended outward from theperiphery of said cover, and having a latch portion disposed under saidfastening flange; and a hinge portion, for connecting said fasteningflange with the periphery of said cover, and having a plurality ofsections of crevices, for reducing a hinge area that connects saidfastening flange and said cover.
 2. The fastening structure of claim 1,wherein said hinge portion has a thickness smaller than that of saidfastening flange, such that said fastening flange can be folded fromsaid hinge portion and stacked onto said cover.
 3. A sealed box,comprising: a cover, having a plurality of fastening flanges disposed atthe periphery of said cover and a latch portion disposed under saidfastening flange; a hinge portion, coupled to the periphery of saidcover at said fastening flange, and having a plurality of sections ofcrevices, for reducing a hinge area that connects said fastening flangeto said cover; and a container, having a latch structure disposedproximate to a top edge of said container and used together with saidlatch portions for fastening and fixing said cover with said container.4. The sealed box of claim 3, wherein said hinge portion has a thicknesssmaller than that of said fastening flange, such that said fasteningflange can be folded and stacked onto said cover by said hinge portion.5. The sealed box of claim 3, wherein said latch structure comprises asunken latch portion, for pressing and latching said latch portions intosaid latch portion.
 6. The sealed box of claim 3, wherein said cover hasa recession coupled to the top of said container, and said recessionincludes a pad for sealing said container.
 7. The sealed box of claim 3,wherein said has a sheathe hole disposed at a cover surface of saidcover, and said sheathe hole has at least one air hole disposed adjacentto the periphery of said sheathe hole; and an umbrella valve, includinga diaphragm with a sufficient width to cover said air hole, a pressbutton disposed above said diaphragm, and a blocking latch portiondisposed under said diaphragm and provided for inserting into saidsheathe hole.
 8. The sealed box of claim 7, wherein said cover has anindent sunken into said cover surface, and said sheathe hole is disposedat said indent.